Tag: SeaWorld

Off to SeaWorld today! Unusually this will be our only visit this trip as we were using our Disney tickets to the maximum usage we could. We normally come at least twice because you can usually get the second day for free if you visit the Guest Relations booth on your way out. But in any case we had been to Discovery Cove on the last 2 trips and that gives you access to SeaWorld in any case.

Rosemary wore a highly appropriate dress for the occasion.

Fish Dress

Our first event for the day was the Blue Horizon show. We wanted to make sure we squeezed in all the shows we wanted to catch in the one day so were a bit careful about our times. Blue Horizon is a dolphin show, but there is a lot of acrobatics as well and the dolphin element is actually relatively small.

We briefly went to the Pacific Point Reserve to see the Sealions. They were remarkably quiet that day.

Pacific Point Preserve

Next on our list of “must do” things was the One Ocean show, the killer whale show. This is going to be discontinued now, which is probably a good thing.

One OceanOne Ocean

We stopped to get an ice cream and bite to eat and Rosemary had a weird thing which was little frozen balls called Dippin’ Dots. Kind of OK, tasted a bit weird though.

Weird Ice Cream

We then wanted to get in the last of the 3 shows so we could have the rest of the day free to see a few of the other things around the park. This was the new Seamore and Clyde show, Sealion High. We’d not seen this before so looking forward to it. The premise is quite fun but the animals were not really behaving that well on the day, with one of the sealions being sent for a time out during the show…

After this we could take our time a little more. And went to have a look around some of the shops and then to see the manatees. It’s always a bit quieter around them, not sure if it’s their relaxed movements which calm everyone down, but certainly less activity there.

Managed to get this amazing shot of Rosemary interacting with one of the manatees. We hung back when everyone went through into the Turtle Trek show and were the only people in the exhibit at the time. They had their nose pressed right up against the glass. Maybe it was the bright dress which was attractive.

Manatee!

In the next tank are some rescued turtles and with no one about managed to get some better shots of one of them.

Turtle Trek

We had hot dogs for tea from Captain Pete’s Hot Dogs. Rosemary had a plain dog and I had a chilli dog, and Julia had a veggie one.

Hot Dog!

Still plenty to do as it was right by the hot dog place we went to the stingray pool. I think this was the first time Rosemary had plucked up the courage to touch the stingrays and was surprised at how soft they are.

Stingrays

We also went to the aquarium which is slightly hidden away underneath the Manta ride. It’s an amazing one and well worth spending time in, with a large tank with rays and fish, as well as smaller display tanks.

Manta Aquarium

We carried on with our (second) journey around the park, going through Antartica. The queues were crazy for the ride there and although we would have liked to have seen the penguins it wasn’t worth the +45 minute wait time.

Antarctica

We then went into the Shark Encounter and the great aquarium there. We once again repeated a picture we’ve done each time we’ve been. Here is the latest version:

SHARK!

And from December 2013:

Scary Shark

And March 2012:

Shark

Quite fun to do the same one each time to see the changes.

We stopped by to say “Hi” to Shamu as we went past the Shamu Stadium (didn’t get to do this last time as it was all closed off).

Shamu

And then obviously had to have a Shamu ice cream.

Shamu Ice Cream

And finally for the day got to ride on Shamu himself.

Shamu

That was pretty much us exhausted for the day by then. Just took this one on the way out of the park as it was the 50th anniversary of SeaWorld.

50th Anniversary

Finally I put together a video of our day at Seaworld which you can see on YouTube:

Unfortunately we’re nearly at the end of our trip and this will be our last full day. So we returned to SeaWorld again to see some more of the things there.

The first thing we did was go to the touch pool where you can feel the rays.

Rays

Rosemary was a bit nervous about it at first, especially as some of them slap their wings against the side and you can get splashed. But got used to it and was gently stroking them soon enough. They’re really soft and feel like velvet.

We got a pressed penny afterwards which said “I Touched the Rays”.

Pressed Penny

In the Antarctica zone (we saw the penguins last time) we got a snap with the Christmas sign.

Happy Holidays

The models of the different penguins were really nice. There is a whole wall of them.

Penguins

We visited the Sharks Encounter and took a photo which was similar to one we took on our previous visit.

Scary Shark

And from our last trip:

Shark!

The walk through was very scary.

Very scary!

We didn’t get to see the One Ocean show last visit so made sure we got there this time around. Putting aside issues of whether Orcas should be held in captivity it is a very spectacular show.

ShamuShamu

And a photo with the Shamu model at the entrance.

Shamu

After the show we went to visit the Wild Arctic. As it was Christmas everything was themed around the Polar Express movie and the little movie you watch to go through to the animals was clips from the movie.

The tree inside was really amazing, probably even more so because of the low light levels.

Christmas TreeTo the North Pole

No pictures of the animals as they didn’t come out very well. But on the way out we got a cup of hot chocolate which Rosemary said was the “best ever”. It was incredibly sweet!

As we walked around to the Christmas Market that was running there was virtually no one playing the fairground games. So we decided to have a go at Shamu Showdown and I won a Christmas Shamu for Rosemary. She was so happy about this.

We won Shamu

And finally another picture of some of the Christmas Trees. These were at the top of the park in the gardens.

Off to Seaworld today, using our free entry which comes with the Discovery Cove tickets. This gives you 14 days entry to Seaworld in addition to your Discovery Cove entry, as well as Aquatica, so it’s pretty good value I think.

Our first stop was to go to the aquarium which is underneath Manta, which is a pretty hairy ride and not one you will find me on!

Aquarium

The aquarium is a little hidden but well worth a visit. There is a very large tank full of fish, rays and sharks.

AquariumAquarium

And a tank full of clown fish which you can stick your head into.

Clownfish

New since our last visit is the Empire of the Penguin ride and the whole of the Antarctica section. The ride comes in mild or wild and we picked mild (which had a much shorter queue as well). The ride was okay but nothing amazing and unfortunately you have to ride it to get to see the penguins.

Penguins

They are at the end of the ride and very noisy, and smelly.

Penguins

We had some lunch in the Antartica cafe and then went over to see the Manatees. This area has changed since our last visit as well (when you couldn’t see the manatees at all) and there is now a 360 degree film as part of the experience.

ManateesManatees

Took a quick break to have an ice cream, and of course you can’t not have a Shamu ice cream at Seaworld.

Ice Cream

The Seamore and Clyde show had been changed a bit for the Christmas holidays and we went over to see this. The pirate ship was all decorated and the show was all Christmas themed.

Seamore and Clyde

Finally for this day we took a walk around the walk. Seaworld had really been decorated up for the holidays with lights and trees pretty much everywhere.

Christmas Lights

And in the middle of the lake was the Sea of Trees, which were a huge number of trees all lit up and periodically the lights would go to the music.

Unfortunately it’s our last day in Florida and before our flight in the evening we used our tickets again to visit Seaworld. So we packed up the hotel room and got everything in the car before heading down to Seaworld.

Really wanted to make sure we saw the Seamore and Clyde show as we missed it on our first visit. So we headed straight there.

The Mime

The Mime is a great part of the show and comes on for the period before it starts. He’s got a lot of tricks like starting to show people to seats and then just leaving them or trying to dance with them.

Seamore and Clyde

The show itself is really funny and Rosemary really enjoyed it with the antics of the sealions and the naughty otter who comes and steals things.

Seamore and Clyde

The shops were packed with Shamus.

Shamu

And we had another trip around some of the aquariums. The fish and sea creatures are just amazing.

Anemone

And finally a picture with the lighthouse as we were leaving.

Seaworld

And very unfortunately that was pretty much the end of our trip. After this we headed back to the airport and dropped off our hire car before going into the airport itself and checking in for our flight home. At the airport we had a burger at Burger King (not much in the way of decent places to eat to be honest) and had an uneventful flight home with a tired out little girl who will need some time to recover I suspect.

Once home we got this shot of all the things she’d been bought while there.

Our next trip out was a real treat and was to Discovery Cove which is pretty much a day resort part of Seaworld where everything is inclusive and there are lots of places to swim and chill out. We went a few years ago for my birthday and wanted to take Rosemary back. It’s actually pretty good value as the entry cost includes all your food and drink for the day and free entry to Seaworld as well. We paid an extra few dollars (I think it was $40) to get Busch Gardens and Aquatica as well. I noticed recently that Aquatica is now part of the entry anyway so it’s even better value now.

The park has 4 main areas (at the time anyway, there is the Freshwater Oasis that has since opened) which are the Serenity Bay/Wind Away River which is a lazy river you can swim round and is freshwater, the Dolphin Lagoon where you do the dolphin swims, the Explorers Aviary and the Grand Reef which is a big saltwater area where there are fish and rays.

At check-in we got lent the coolest buggy ever which had giant beachbuggy wheels. This was taken at the end of the day though, which is why Rosemary is fast asleep.

Beach Buggy, Buggy

We had breakfast to start off the day.

Breakfast TimeBreakfast Time

After a spot of breakfast we got our wetsuits on and headed for the lazy river.

Dressed for Swimming

Rosemary looked particularly fab in her all in one.

Junior BeachbumIn her wetsuit

We grabbed Rosemary a lifejacket, although it was really a little big for her and a float for us to hold onto with her.

Lazy River

Definitely going for an all in one next time as you can see this was too baggy and kept riding up. Wore a T-Shirt specifically because I got rubbed on my shoulders last time but it didn’t help.

Lazy River

The river does a full circuit of that part of the park and there are two waterfalls where you enter and leave the aviary. These weren’t too popular unfortunately as they were pretty fierce and when you’re little they pummel you quite a lot.

SwimmingSwimming

We stopped at one point and someone was kind enough to take a photo of the 3 of us together.

In the Cave

Here is a good shot of the Serenity Bay area and the lovely white sand.

Serenity Bay

And the waterfall and caves which are the start of the Wind Away River.

Waterfall

After a lap of the river and some more paddling about we got some lunch. Food was first rate and we were pretty stuffed having gone back for deserts (all included in the entry price).

I decided to head off to the Grand Reef, which as it was seawater and pretty cold we decided not to take Rosemary into and she had a chill out by the beach. I had an underwater enclosure for my FLIP video camera and shot some footage while swimming and these are mainly snapshots extracted from that.

FishiesFishies and a bit of a RayFishies

Some of the rays like these Cow Nose Rays were quite small (about 2ft?).

RaysRayCow Nose Ray

Some like this Spotted Eagle Ray were pretty huge. I would say the wingspan was a good 6ft and this one came right past we, swam around behind and headed off again. Real close encounter and my videoing was pretty rubbish as I was trying to stay out of his way.

Big RaySpotted Eagle Ray

After showering off the salt water I grabbed a couple of ice creams from one of the food spots and headed back to see how everyone was doing. Bringing ice cream back made me quite popular.

Ice Cream

Rosemary also decided that she was going to go for snorkle.

SnorklingPlaying the SandPlaying in the sand

After one more swim around the main open water space in the Serenity Bay area the afternoon was pretty much gone, so we got showered up and changed and walked over the aviary so I could take a few photos of the birds there. Julia decided to sit at the bay instead and have free cocktails.

Cocktail Time

And Rosemary was by this point shattered and had a dose in the beach buggy.

Having had a restful day yesterday we went to Seaworld today. We had booked tickets before we left the UK for Discovery Cove and this gives up to 14 days unlimited access into Seaworld as well. We paid a little extra to also get Busch Gardens and Aquatica added to that deal, so a lot of our visits were already paid for and think it was a good deal ($199 for all that access). We didn’t rush down to the park but had some breakfast and then took the short drive down International Drive to Seaworld. Parking isn’t included in the pre-booked tickets and is now a $14 extra. First stop when we got into the park was the Dolphin Nursery so Rosemary could have a look at the dolphins in a relatively quiet place.

Dolphin NurseryDolphin Nursery

Greatly enjoyed that, asking for “More” each time a dolphin went past. We then headed over to try and catch the “Clyde and Seamore Take Pirate Island” but got there a bit late and the show was already fully seated. So we had a quick look around the sealion enclosure instead.

SealionsSealions

The sealions were unusually quiet (it’s always been really loud and raucous when we’ve been there before), maybe it was too early for them and they don’t get up before midday. Also didn’t seem to be as many as in previous visits.

We then headed across the park to the “One Ocean” Killer Whale show, and having missed the first one we decided to get there nice and early so Rosemary could have an ice lolly.

Jolly RancherJolly Rancher

The show was great, although the trainers are no longer allowed to go into the water with the Killer Whales, and although there are a lot of pictures I’ll just add a few here.

One World ShowOne World ShowOne World ShowOne World ShowOne World Show

As we were then nearby we visited the Wild Arctic area, skipping the video and hopping out the back, to see the animals there. The area is really dark so getting photos is really difficult so only a couple of shots worth showing.

Wild ArticWild Artic

Rosemary decided to have a nap at this point and we grabbed some lunch before doing a little bit of shop browsing.

Shamu

Once Rosemary had woken up and had something to eat and drink herself we went over to the Shark Encounter where there are some great aquarium and walk through tunnels. Rosemary wasn’t too sure about the idea:

Shark!

But she soon got used to the idea.

Shark!AquariaAquariaAquaria

By this time Rosemary was getting pretty tired (we had crammed a lot in) and we decided to do one last thing and go and catch the dolphin show “Blue Horizons”. Rosemary snacked out while we waited and enjoyed the display, particularly the birds flying low over the audience.

Blue HorizonBlue HorizonBlue Horizon

We were all pretty worn out by this point and had done everything we could for one day, and as we planned to come back later in our trip we headed out for dinner. We rather randomly went to Sizzler, which was cheap and cheerful, and food was perfectly fine.